Members of the 3rd Battalion, 197th Field Artillery Regiment returned to New Hampshire from their deployment to the Middle East in December and January.

From February 2015 until the holidays, they were in the Middle East serving in Operation Spartan Shield, an allied training mission that made history for the guard.

“We're the first National Guard rocket artillery battalion to conduct this mission. All the previous units that were conducting this mission were active component units,” said Lt. Col. Sean Bennett.

This ceremony marked a formal homecoming, but almost all of the citizen soldiers returned to New Hampshire in December and January.

"It's been really good, good coming back to everything and getting back into the flow of the life that we left,” said Spc. Tom Seaton.

Gov. Maggie Hassan thanked the 197th for making the country safer and freedom stronger.

"And they've done it with just the hallmark of being great Granite State representatives -- collaboratively, with strength and with skill, and we are so proud of them and we are grateful to their families, too,” said Hassan.

A good number of those families welcomed new babies during the deployment.

"Well, I was pregnant the whole time so it was pretty stressful taking care of everything, but it's good to have him home,” said Jill Tully, of Springfield.

For families and their citizen soldiers, they're grateful for Sunday's recognition of their sacrifice, but they also say they're proud to serve and be "always ready, always there."

"It's awesome. It's a great feeling, I love doing it. I'll probably end up doing this the rest of my life,” said Spc. Catherine Manoogian.

There was special honor for Alpha Battery of the 197th, which garnered national acclaim by winning the Alexander Hamilton Award. The award is given by the military to the best field artillery battery in the U.S.